NAB Taps EIC to Lead the DTV Transition Charge Within the Entertainment Industry
March 4, 2008
WASHINGTON — The Entertainment Industries Council, Inc. (EIC) and the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) gathered the nation's leading consumer and grassroots organizations and entertainment industry representatives today to develop ways the industry can help to communicate the digital television (DTV) transition to the American public by using television content and programming. The event, "Picture This: DTV and the Faces of Transition," held at NAB headquarters, included more than 30 key organizations committed to getting the message out to their constituencies of millions of television viewers.
Entertainment industry panelists included John Schneider ("Smallville" and "Nip/Tuck"), television writer and producer Michael Winship (president of the Writers Guild of America East), executive producer Mark Wolper ("Salem's Lot," "Helter Skelter," and the upcoming remake of "Sybil"), development executive Kelly Goode of John Singleton Productions, Diana C. Diaz, director of Corporate & Community Relations for Univision Communications (the first broadcast network to launch a DTV consumer education campaign) and Margaret Tobey, vice president of Regulatory Affairs for NBC Universal. The panelists spoke about the industry's role in educating the public about the DTV transition.
"NAB is spearheading an aggressive and thorough national outreach effort to ensure that no one is left unprepared when the government-mandated transition from analog to digital television broadcasting occurs," said NAB President and CEO David Rehr. "I applaud the efforts by the organizations represented at this event to coordinate efforts to target and reach out to the people who will be most affected by the DTV transition."
"We're pleased to have been tapped by NAB to be a part of the coalition that is working on this transition, bringing the influence of the creative community to bear so that those most affected – older Americans, people of color, rural residents, tribal communities and people with disabilities – do not lose one of their most important access points to information," said EIC President and CEO Brian Dyak.
On February 17, 2009, full-power television stations nationwide will cease transmitting analog signals, affecting approximately 20 million households that only receive over-the-air broadcast signals. In order to avoid losing television signals, these viewers must either purchase a converter box for their existing analog TV set, upgrade to a new digital TV set, or subscribe to a paid television service such as cable or satellite.
Following the industry panel, panelists worked with constituency group representatives in attendance to develop suggestions for ways that entertainment television can deliver the message to viewers through storylines on TV shows. A report of possible ways to incorporate the message will be distributed throughout the entertainment industry's creative community. Both the Writers Guilds of America East and West are in discussions to assist EIC and NAB, and will be reaching out to their writer members, encouraging them to help spread the word.
"Working together with such a diverse set of interest groups, our writers can play an important role reaching audiences with news of the digital transition," said panelist Michael Winship.
